News & Publications

Woman Reunites with Albany Med Nurses Who Cared for Her During Pregnancy

ALBANY, N.Y., May 7, 2014 — A woman who was severely injured in a car accident halfway through her first pregnancy and spent three months at Albany Med during her recovery and delivery today reunited with the nurses and physicians who cared for her during her time of need.

For National Nurses Recognition Week, Robin Morton, 24, of Cherry Valley, wanted to personally express her gratitude to Albany Medical Center nurses Kim Kahn, RN, Clinical Nurse Specialist, and Lisa Welter, RN, Nurse Manager, who both helped manage her complex care and the critical coordination between the obstetrics and orthopedic physicians and nurses.

“Words can’t describe how grateful I am to the nurses and physicians at Albany Medical Center,” said Morton, who suffered a broken hip after the car her husband was driving was hit by a drunk driver outside of Utica in July 2013.

After receiving surgery at a local hospital, she dislocated her hip and was transferred to Albany Med. She was put into traction and confined to bed for more than three months.

On October 16, 2013, Albany Med physicians and nurses helped Morton deliver a healthy baby girl, Charlotte, who is now six months old and thriving.

Living so far away, Morton was unable to see her husband every day. “I don’t know what I would have done without Kim and Lisa and so many others. Albany Med nurses literally became my family and treated me as such. I’ll never be able to thank them enough,” Morton said.

Yesterday, both Kahn and Welter were honored with the prestigious Pillars of Nursing Awards for excellence in patient care and leadership. A Pillars of Nursing Award is the highest nursing award bestowed by Albany Medical Center and given out annually.

“This was an extraordinarily complex case where our team provided not just the highest degree of expertise but also a tremendous amount of compassion and care,” said Mary Ellen Plass, RN, MS, CENP, senior vice president and chief nursing officer at Albany Medical Center. “Kim and Lisa both exemplify the determination of Albany Med nurses to achieve the very best patient outcomes.”

Albany Medical Center’s “Celebrate Nurses” initiative, which corresponds to National Nurses Recognition Week (May 6-12), encourages patients to share their life-changing stories, as well as salute an Albany Med nurse by making a gift in his or her name.To view more patient stories, or to learn more about how to honor an Albany Med nurse, please visit: http://www.amc.edu/foundation/lifeline/nurses_recognition/.

Albany Medical Center, northeastern New York’s only academic health sciences center, is one of the largest private employers in the Capital Region. It incorporates the 734-bed Albany Medical Center Hospital, which offers the widest range of medical and surgical services in the region, and the Albany Medical College, which trains the next generation of doctors, scientists and other healthcare professionals, and also includes a biomedical research enterprise and the region’s largest physicians practice with more than 400 doctors. Albany Medical Center works with dozens of community partners to improve the region’s health and quality of life. For more information: www.amc.edu or www.facebook.com/albanymedicalcenter.

###

Statistical information presented in press releases may no longer be valid.